Kingdom Hearts: Darkness Rising
by Lenchkumaximus
Summary: When an ancient race is awoken by the Keyblade War, the universe now faces its greatest threat since the Heartless. But with new powerful enemies and looming tragedies could this be Sora and the other Keyblade Masters last stand? Set six months after the events of KH III this new adventure see's Sora, Riku and Kairi face their biggest and most deadly threat yet.
1. Chapter 1

Kingdom Hearts: Darkness Rising

Chapter 1: The Awakening

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the other characters that are being used from other franchises; I do however own my own characters and the plot. Enjoy

_I've been thinking recently, about what I would do when this was all over. I still don't know the full story yet, but I'm determined to find out. Until then…you'll wait for me, right?_

_I will, forever_

_Sora, do you really think we can defeat Xehanort?_

_I don't know Ven, but we're going to try _

_Do you truly believe that you were destined to gain the Keyblade? Everything that has happened here was because of my doing, I set these events into motion all those years ago and you will not stop me! I will see what lies on the other side of the door and I will begin another Keyblade War and I shall be victorious!_

In the darkest reaches of the universe there existed a black planet, a planet choked with a purple cloud like atmosphere that almost covered the entire globe, so much so that no-one knew what the actual surface looked like.

The clouds with thick with poisonous fumes, they choked the life out of anything that wasn't mechanical. The surface was decorated with giant skyscraper like structures; they were stone and yet had some form of mechanics underneath, almost like a cocoon.

The planet had been quiet for so many years that people around the universe had forgotten the planet even existed, the planet known simply as X.

Yet something deep in the planets core had awoken, a dark shrill like cry that would sent a shiver down any mortal man's spine. Dark green neon eyes switched on as the sounds of shrieking metal awoke the planets occupants from their slumber, the thuds and clunks of metal feet touching the ground after so long sent shockwaves through the planet, as the first lights started coming on one of the creatures came into view.

It was tall with a man shaped like build, except it was completely mechanical and its body was that of a human skeleton, complete with a skull devoid of any emotion. Its silver like armour glistened as the lights from the hangers above shined over it; it was almost beautiful in how menacing it looked.

Many more creatures, exactly the same in appearance began to appear as did others. Some were taller and well-built and wore death masks with a single eye; others were spider like in appearance with long black legs. They were all covered in neon green markings that were drawn all over their bodies, they all watched other work with their neon green eyes that would have put on a spectacular light show for anyone that could witness their awakening.

The foot soldiers all lined up in unison as they all looked up towards a large platform where something started advancing towards them, it's single red eye stuck out like a sore thumb which meant it grabbed everyone's attention.

"We have awoken once again" it said in a chilling robotic voice, it was clear that this creature did not speak much because its voice sounded shrill and purely emotionless.

"Our time has come!" it shouted earning roars and cheers from its compatriots, "This universe has had its fair share of fear, fear of the darkness and fear of the unknown but now it will experience the ultimate form of fear, logic!" it said continuing to earn approval from its subordinates.

"Maintain order and continue with your work, soon you will all bear witness to the greatest colonisation this galaxy has ever seen, no army or weapon will stand in our way until everything in the universe belongs to us, they all belong to us, they shall be like us" it shouted once again as something huge stomped its way into view, the red eyed creature then waved its single hand as the troops started making their way towards giant nest like structures that were shaped like giant ribcages, they each climbed into a pod in a standing up position and waited as the ships started to take off and fly high into the atmosphere.

"The age of the Necron's has begun"

_KH_

_Destiny Islands _

Destiny Islands was a place of pure beauty. Many people often described it as a paradise with its tall palm trees, the beautiful sunsets and the clear calm crystal blue ocean that surrounded it.

But of course for some people the islands had lost their magic touch, sitting at the edge of the pier were three young people, they all stared quietly into the bay, enjoying each other's presence as they had all remembered using the pier to travel to they're favourite island to play but now it was just a distant memory.

"It's hard to believe it's finally over" said the tallest, he was broad shouldered with shoulder length silver hair, his eyes were aquamarine in colure and this only added to his intimidating appearance, his muscular body further emphasise this.

Sitting in the middle was girl with ear length ruby colored hair and purple eyes; she was very beautiful and had stolen the hearts of many men, in particular the other boy sitting next to her. He had spiky caramel hair with deep blue eyes; he dangled his feet with his oversized black shoes over the deck as he leaned back and took in the sun's rays.

They were Sora, Kairi and Riku, the survivors of the Keyblade War.

Long before they three of them had met there was a man who lived on Destiny Islands, his name was Xehanort. He dreamed of a world outside the solitary prison and so inspired to travel beyond the barriers of his home and explore the universe for what it was. He eventually came to wield a weapon called a Keyblade, a weapon designed with the purpose of defeating creatures of darkness.

Together he trained with a man named Eraqus and gained great respect throughout the various worlds, but yet something dark lurked in his mind. As age and time began to catch up with him Xehanort became obsessed with an ancient conflict called the Keyblade War. As he learned more and more about the ancient war the more he become determined to re-enact it, Eraqus disagreed and led to a fight between them, after this Xehanort became a drifter and was not seen again for many years.

During this time Xehanort set up a plan, he took in a young boy known as Ventus and trained him as a Keyblade wielder. Then one day he extracted the darkness from Ven's heart and created Vanitas, a creature a pure darkness to combat Ven's pure light. The resulting conflict would create an ancient weapon called the _x-_blade.

When Xehanort finally returned he set his second plan into motion, he manipulated Eraqus's pupil, Terra, into becoming another vessel for him after he was weakened during his travels. He also acquired the help of a man named Braig and Vanitas to create the _x_-blade.

But thankfully Xehanort's plans were diverted thanks to the help of Keyblade Master, and best friend of Terra and Ven, Aqua and her friend Mickey who stopped Xehanort and destroyed the _x_-blade. But it also resulted in the loss if Ven's heart, Aqua becoming trapped in the World of Darkness and Terra having Xehanort controlling his body and losing his mind to the Dark Seeker.

Ten years later Xehanort's full plan was set into motion, he gathered the members of his group, Organisation XIII, to the Keyblade Graveyard to fully begin the Keyblade War. The war was fought between The Seven Guardians of Light, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Ven, Aqua and Lea against Xehanort and his army of clones containing a piece of his heart.

But the War was unexpected in how long and how ferocious it would be. Master Xehanort had far more access creatures of Darkness than thought possible. Entire worlds were taken over by his madness and others were completely destroyed and reduced to lifeless husks.

Sora and the others had never experienced anything like it; war was something that kids like them had never even thought about being involved in it.

After many months of fighting the group finally defeated the Organisation and Sora himself struck down Xehanort in the final battle.

_It was hell on earth, the sky was burning and everywhere around them was the screaming of the Heartless as they advanced from all sides. Six warriors, clad in armour and wielding Keyblades fought back with huge pillars of light as the other one clashed blades with an old man with a silver haired goatee._

"_Darkness can never be defeated, you may strike me down but more will take my place" the man shouted as the boy fought back ferociously, he fought with energy and power unlike anything he had ever summoned before, Xehanort was pushed back up towards a cliff as Sora kept attacking and attacking._

_Xehanort grinned as Sora slashed down at him, he dodged and slammed his blade into Sora's helmet, basically shattering it. Maximus scowled up at Xehanort as he raised his hands triumphantly "You have come far boy but this was inevitable, I was in control of this war before it even began and it will with me finding the secret to Kingdom Hearts!" he shouted as he turned round and started to walk towards the giant blue heart like structure floating above him._

_Sora scowled up at Xehanort as he looked round and saw his friend fighting, his blue eyes locked with Kairi's purple one as she noticed him. She gave him a look that only he knew from her, the look that said that she believed in him and that he should not give up, Sora gripped the handle to his Keyblade, the Oathkeeper and charged towards Xehanort._

"_XEHANORT!" he roared as his Keyblade started to shine a blue colure, Xehanort turned round to glare at him and blocked his attack and kicked Sora's keyblade away._

"_Always the bravest of us? But you could never make the hard decisions, you treat the Keyblade like a toy stick and have no idea of its full potential, the worlds shall all fall to my power and you shall just be another fallen warrior of light!" he said kicking Sora down before stabbing his Keyblade into Sora's shoulder and severed his arm completely, Sora could only stare in shock as his arm went flying and landed at least twenty feet away from him with a bloody thud._

_Sora could only groan in pain as he grabbed the stump where his arm used to be as Xehanort slammed the side of his Keyblade into Sora's head, knocking him to the ground and stabbing him through the other shoulder and dragging him across the ground as Kairi could only stare in horror._

_She screamed Sora's name, catching Riku's attention. He quickly pushed past several Heartless and rushed forwards to save his friend with Kairi and the others not far away._

"_Sora!" screamed Kairi as Xehanort lifted his blade and prepared to kill Sora._

"_You could have become a god boy but here there shall now only be one!" roared Xehanort as a long purple blade extended from his Keyblade, he lifted it high and prepared to stab Sora._

_Riku smashed his way through a group of Heartless and was only a few feet away from his best friend when suddenly something shot past him and hit Xehanort in the back, Xehanort cried out in pain as he was hit again and again by several more fireballs, green fire shot appeared from beneath the ground and the shape of Maleficent appeared._

_Xehanort turned round to try and find his attacker but she was too quick for him, in one thrust she stabbed her sceptre straight through his chest, "This is my victory, Kingdom Hearts is mine!" she shouted as Xehanort collapsed to his knees and dropped his Keyblade as Sora managed to back to his feet again, Riku stopped in his tracks when he saw the look on Sora's face, it was unlike anything he had ever seen, the smiling always cheerful friend he had been fighting with was gone, replaced with a man with a murderous intent._

_Maleficent clutched her chest in pain as she turned to Sora whilst Xehanort tried to reach his blade but ended up just coughing up blood. Sora watched Maleficent silently as she raised her hands, "The war is over! We need a truce, for now. Until I'am once again in control of the Heartless. What do you say Sora? Besides where would you be without me now?" she said with a wicked grin as Sora looked at her with the most livid expression humanly possible._

"_Time to find out" he growled before he summoned his Keyblade and before Maleficent could react, slammed it into her stomach causing her to cry out in pain and fall to her knees as Sora kicked her down before slamming his Keyblade down onto her head and tore it clean off, taking her spine with it. _

_Blood sprayed out from Maleficent's now decapitated body as Sora casually dropped his blood soaked weapon and turned to Xehanort who was still alive but barely._

_He looked up at Sora and grinned as Sora picked up Xehanort's Keyblade, "How could I have failed? It's not possible. You think that this will change anything? My plans may have failed but there are still many others out there who will follow my legacy. You and your friends will never be safe, the Light shall go out and darkness shall conquer all words!" he yelled as Sora looked down at him with a pitied look as he raised his blade._

"_Then we will kill them all" he said darkly as Xehanort looked up at him, not in fear but in triumph._

"_Then I have already won" he said as Sora looked down at him confused._

"_What do you mean?" he said as Xehanort led out a hoarse laugh._

"_Has the Darkness taken you Sora?" he said, Sora looked shocked and then angry. With a yell and swing he sliced Xehanort's head clean off from his body as Kingdom Hearts started to shake and crack above him._

_Sora threw away Xehanort's Keyblade and turned to face the doorway, "Kingdom Hearts. They say it's a door to all worlds, but if there's a door then there must be a lock" he said as he once again summoned the Kingdom Key and looked closely at the giant heart and that's where he saw it, a tiny Keyhole just big enough to fit the Kingdom Key._

"_Well, worth a shot" he said, shrugging as Kairi and Riku shouted his name and tried to run after him but blue lighting shot out from Kingdom Hearts and they could only watch as Sora disappeared into the light _

When Riku and Kairi saw their friend again he was unconscious and yet fully healed, arm intact. There was nothing left of Kingdom Hearts, the Heartless had vanished and all that was left was the bodies of the dead, including Xehanort and Maleficent.

It was difficult for Riku to even conceive what had happened during the final battle as he helped carry Sora away, he could see nothing but concern in Kairi's eye's but everyone else had the same look he did. Something had happened to Sora during the War, something that he wasn't sure if he wanted to find out what it was in case he would have to do something he would regret forever.

It had been over six months since the final battle and Sora had been labeled as the saviour of the Universe, much to his and Riku's displeasure, and this meant he had spent nearly every day in the capital of Radiant Garden having long boring meetings with the Council.

Sora could honestly have cared less about what they were talking about due to him being pretty much ignored during all the meetings but because Kairi's step father, Richard, was one of the members he attended them with grudging respect.

He had missed the islands terribly and was more than happy be back with his friends, he had decided not to tell them he was coming home and was still recovering from the surprise hug and subsequent punch in the arm from Kairi or the headlock from Riku, his two friends where more than ecstatic to see him after so long and they had spent the past few hours chatting and hanging out.

"Hey! I've got a great idea about what we could do tonight!" said Kairi enthusiastically as the three of them left the pier and started walking back towards the town.

"Oh god here we go" Riku muttered as Kairi gave a glare while Sora looked excited.

"What Kairi?" he said as she clapped her hands together and giggled.

"We should all go out tonight, there's a new club that's opened up in town and me and Selphie are dying to go there so why don't we all go tonight! We can celebrate you coming back Sora" she said as both boys' faces dropped.

"I don't know Kairi, I mean if we take Sora out he'll end up getting buried in a pile of girls who won't get enough of him and quite frankly that would be incredibly depressing" said Riku as Sora gave him a look.

"Hey! I'm up for it, come on Riku I'm sure Selphie will keep you company or maybe Yuffie? She's staying here right now whilst Radiant Garden is being rebuilt, I think you two would get along pretty well" he said as Riku shrugged.

"Yeah I suppose, but it still annoys me that you have a bigger fan club than me now" he said as they kept walking, Sora laughed and struck a pose.

"Damn right, girls can't get enough of the pearly whites" he said flashing his goofy grin as Riku just shook his head whilst Kairi laughed and jumped in front of them.

"So it's decided then? We're all going tonight?!" she said jumping up and down like a hyperactive schoolgirl.

"Sure if it'll get you to shut up" said Riku sarcastically as Kairi squealed and put one arm round each boys neck and patted them both on the cheek "Awwwwwwww yeah, now you two boys should head home and make yourselves look banging! I'll go tell Selphie, we'll see you there at 9 ok? It's called Daft Club, love yous both! We're gonna paint the town tonight" she said before running off leaving both boys to grimace.

"Well she sure seems excited, why's she so desperate to get us to go out anyway? It's not like she did before" said Sora as the both of them started walking back towards their houses, which were on the other side of the town.

Riku looked at him like he had grown and second head and face palmed, "Dude come on, you can't possibly be that dense. Kairi's asked us out because she wants to try and pull you" he said as Sora looked up at him with a mix of shock and fear on his face.

"She wants to pull me? Is that a bad thing?" he said as Riku gave him a look that said "Seriously" and shook his head.

"No I mean she wants a piece of you" he said as Sora continued to look at him dumbly, Sora shook his head.

"No I still have no idea what you mean, does she want to eat me? I wasn't aware she'd become a cannibal, maybe the war has affected her more than I thought" he said as Riku resisted every urge to scream loudly into his hands.

"YOU GOON! She wants to kiss you or ask you out or shag you or god knows what else. Kairi likes you, no scratch that, loves you" he said as Sora's face went bright red.

"What?! Wait, you can't be serious. Are you joking?" he said as they kept walking, Riku shoved his hands into his pockets and tried not to show any emotion.

"No Sora I'm not joking, she literally hasn't stopped talking about you since you left. No that you're here she wants to start something before you inevitably have to go away again and I'll be stuck with her moaning all the time and having to deal with Selphie are her obsessive need to cling to me every four seconds" he said as Sora looked down at the floor with a look of guilt on his face.

"Sorry Riku, I didn't realise. But to be honest…I kinda thought you and Kairi would have gotten together whilst I was away. I was dreading in fear of you two saying something when I got back" he said as a very dark thought went through Riku.

In this position Riku could easily manipulate Sora into believing that him and Kairi where in some kind of relationship, this would probably crush Sora and he would go away again leaving Riku the chance to tell Kairi lies about Sora and get her to like him instead. But Riku would never do that, despite his own feelings for Kairi he knew it wasn't fair nor right to lie to his best friend who had saved him from death multiple times.

Unfortunately for him Sora seemed to read his mind, "You like her too don't you?" he said as Riku stopped walking and looking at Sora with a look of guilt on his face as Sora just grinned which puzzled Riku.

"I knew you did, I knew you had as long as I have. But its ok man, if you like her then go for it" he said but Riku knew he was lying, if he went out with Kairi it would crush Sora.

He shook his head and put Sora in a playful headlock "Nah, she wouldn't wanna go out with a goon like me and besides whilst you are getting balls deep inside Kairi, I'll be getting my own choice of clunge, Yuffie and Selphie aren't gonna fuck themselves you know" he said mustering the best fake grin he could as Sora laughed and the two of them kept walking.

"Wait, what does "balls deep" mean?" said Sora as Riku just looked at him before putting his hand on Sora's shoulder.

"Sora my friend, we have a lot to teach you about" he said as they kept walking back into town.

KH

_Planet X_

The Necron race where not used to the presence of non-metal creature and as such they were forced to stop what they were doing and watch cautiously as a house sized horse shoe shaped spaceship flew over them and landed in the nearest landing bay.

A human like figure wearing a black waistcoat and a black biker outfit underneath approached the nearest Shocktrooper, he was wearing a bronze death mask with glowing orange eyes and a grill like mouthpiece, and on his back he carried a large silver and black modified shotgun.

"I arranged a meeting with your leader, may you escort me to him please?" he said as the trooper looked round at his other subordinates who nodded.

The Shocktrooper led the man through the facility as the Necron troops stopped to watch him as he walked past.

"What? Never seen a bounty hunter before?" he muttered sarcastically as the Shocktrooper brought to a large room that was filled with giant screens, displaying maps of worlds in the universe they were living in.

"Well now I see that you have been busy" he said faking being impressed as he heard the sound of robotic movement as the leader of the Necron's appeared before him.

He was nearly 30 ft tall with dark purple armour that was built almost human like, complete with ribs on his chest, his left arm was a large cannon whilst his right arm was normal. He had one single red eye and no mouth with horns that curved inwards giving him a slightly demonic appearance, he had a long tube connecting hiss cannon to his back.

"Shockwave" said the man with a grin and bowing his head slightly as Shockwave walked forward and looked down at him.

"It has been a long time Maximus, your presence here has improved my calculations for the success rate of my plans" said Shockwave in a robotic voice that contained just a slight once of pride.

Maximus raised his head so that he could remain in eye contact with Shockwave. He knew one thing was certain about Shockwave which made him the only employer he feared, Shockwave knew when he was lying.

"I'am glad that you think I'am worthy to be in your service" he said as Shockwave turned away and starting typing away at one of the many control panels with his available hand.

"I have a mission of the most importance that must be completed immediately and you were the most logical choice" said Shockwave as he brought up an image of the world Destiny Islands.

"Destiny Islands? What do you need from that shithole?" said Maximus as Shockwave brought up an image of a man Maximus instantly recognised, "Xehanort! Wait a minute I thought he got creamed when that war ended, which I didn't get to be a part of by the way, which was bullshit!" he said as Shockwave continued to work.

"Your word choice is rather poor but you do have a general grasp on the location of the mission which is slightly assuring. But to answer your questions, yes the bionic life form known as Xehanort was terminated by this human, Sora Karasaki" said Shockwave as he brought up an image of Sora on the screen, immediately Maximus recognised him and burst out laughing.

"Ha! I knew it; I'd heard rumours of Xehanort being taken down by some scrawny wee shit but that just takes the cake, I mean look at him!" he said as he kept laughing, Shockwave looked down at him and Maximus immediately stopped, for some reason Maximus found Shockwave's lack of facial features even more intimidating.

"Your response is illogical, despite the humans unintimating appearance he is still an extreme threat to my plans and as such logically he must be eliminated before he and his race of warriors know of my presence. He must be eliminated, that is your objective. Complete it and you will be greatly rewarded" said Shockwave as Maximus grinned.

"Oh man and I thought you were gonna give me a challenge Shockwave! No worries, I'll take care of the scrawny little prick and be back in time for tea. How much cash we talking then? 10 million? 50 million?" he said enthusiastically, Shockwave looked down at him before grabbing Maximus and lifting him up so that they were eye level.

"You're reward is that I won't exterminate you when I launch my army" said Shockwave as Maximus tried hard not to choke as Shockwaves hand clutched harder, "You have 24 hours to complete your objective or Krakatoa will be the first planet to be destroyed" he said before dropping Maximus.

"Ok ok, you've made your point big bot. I can do this job without pay no problem, it'll be like a charity event or something" he said as Shockwave gave no response, Maximus gulped and pulled out a controller from his coat pocket, "Ok well keep an eye out for an update from me, I'll have the job done properly, all I've got to do is cause some carnage on his islands and he'll come running, you can bet your logic on that and then when he's distracted by some of my friend then it'll be an early grave for the Keyblade Master" he said as Shockwave nodded.

"Your plan seems logically successful, now go. You should logically have completed the mission by this time tomorrow or your planet will be destroyed. Now leave" he said and turned his back to Maximus, who took the opportunity to flip him off.

"Yeah whatever your highness, we'll see who get the last laugh when it comes to threatening other peoples planets" muttered Maximus as he left.

He silently walked back to where he had parked his ship, he started to get more and more annoyed as the robots stopped to watch him, finally he turned round and took off his mask, revealing his human face with long brownish hair and dark brown eyes.

"What!? What do you lot keep looking at? Checking out my arse or something?" he said sarcastically, the robots gave no response and Maximus simply just sighed loudly and climbed up into his ship.

"Computer, set up coordinates for the world known as Destiny Islands and give Lockdown a call, we've got a Keyblade Wielder to kill"

_To be Continued _


	2. Chapter 2

Kingdom Hearts: Darkness Rising

Chapter 2: Attack on Destiny Islands

_**Authors Note: I own nothing except the plot and Maximus of course**_

_Krakatoa_

The town of Krakatoa was built around a giant dormant volcano, which would make it seem like a dangerous place to live and indeed it was. The poisonous fumes and constant barrage of earthquakes questioned any outsider's reason as to why so many people live there.

The town itself snaked around the base of the mountain and was connected to huge sea that stretched for miles, it was rich in nutrients and had an abundant ecosystem of sea life, the slopes of the mountain themselves where dominated by giant reptile like creatures that would prey on unsuspecting humans that wondered to closely to their habitat.

The planet was also the meeting spot for bounty hunters, the remote location and dangerous surface meant that only the toughest of bounty hunters could go there and this combined with the traders that followed them made the town one of the richest in the galaxy.

Maximus had lived in Krakatoa for nearly five years and had gained something of a reputation from his perks; he was the hunter with the biggest bounty on his head and as such was one of the most popular and most recognised bounty hunters in the town.

He enthusiastically kicked the doors open to the most popular gathering place of hunters in the town, what was once a an ancient temple had been converted into a bar/club complete with scantly cladded women dancing and hourly bar fights.

"HELLO ST LEWIS!" he roared at the top of his lungs, earning several cheers and also several beer bottles being thrown at him, which he skilfully dodged. He scanned the room and quickly found who he was looking for.

Sitting at the far corner of the bar was a large silver and black robot, he was nearly 20 ft tall and had a large meat hook for a right hand, he wore a green mask like visor over his face and his armour was made from various different pieces of armour he had collected over the years, Maximus had no idea what parts of him where original.

The robot heard Maximus coming and turned round to meet him, "Maximus, it's been a while, what do I oh the pleasure?" he said in a surprisingly almost human sounding sarcastic voice as Maximus sat down across from him, he noticed several hunters across the room watching him and had to lean in so that only his friend could hear him.

"How's it going Lockdown? Listen, I've got a job for us and it is some serious shit. I got a call from those guys from Planet X, the Necron's have awoken" he whispered as Lockdown remained expressionless as usual but he did give a somewhat startled reaction.

"Are you serious?" said Lockdown as Maximus nodded and motioned for him to lean in but before he could say anymore there was a loud ringing noise and everybody in the bar either cheered or shouted in complain, there were loud footsteps as a tall very muscular bald man wearing a black trench coat, he wore a black eye patch over one eye and his face was littered with scars, he also had a black moustache that covered his mouth.

"Welcome everybody now sit down and shut up!" he shouted in a booming voice which caught everyone's attention, even Lockdown and Maximus turned round to listen to what he had to say.

"Whoes that guy?" Maximus heard one of the newer bounty hunters whisper to his friend and couldn't help but snicker, he remembered back when he asked the same question and had a boot to the face for an answer.

"Dude, don't you know anything? That's Alexander Henderson, the leader of our guild. He also goes by the name Sergeant Slaughter, he's one tough motherfucker"

"I SAID SILENCE!" Slaughter roared at the top of his lungs, stopping any chatter and grabbing everyone in a terrified state of awareness.

"Now then may we get this insufferable piece of hell over with; here is the weekly recon of how much you gimpoids have been earning for us. The current stand out bounty on our heads, rounded up to the highest amount and taking all hunters into consideration be they living or undead, is exactly 678 billion munny!" he shouted.

Everyone looked at each other and expected some kind of reaction from each other but there was none. Everyone looked fairly disappointed and some looked shocked beyond words, Maximus sighed and slammed his head on the table as there were roars of outcry.

"It's really that low?!" someone shouted as Slaughter once again shouted to get everyone's attention.

"This past year we have had a rapid decrease in the need for bounty hunters! There has been less assassination requests, virtually no mass gang warfare and hardly any kind of worldwide destruction on any planet in the galaxy for the past six months" he said as everyone started shouting again.

"It's all cause of that fricken Keyblade War! Back when that was at its highest point the demand for bounty hunters was huge, everybody wanted us to try and kill that Organisation and then what happens? Some mouse king and a gang of pre-teens wielding giant keys and some friendship bullshit go in and take him out! What the fuck!?" shouted Slaughter as Maximus couldn't help but snort in laughter.

"You got something to say Maximus?! Why don't you share it with all of us, you scrawny bastard!" said Slaughter as Maximus stopped laughing and shrugged.

"Just because you gimps haven't been doing jack shit doesn't mean I haven't and I'll have you know that once my latest assignment has been completed then demand for our services will be higher than they have ever been" he said as everyone started muttering whilst Slaughter jumped down from the stage he was on and walked up to Maximus.

"You talk big words for such a little man, but you might want to think twice about making such and big statement like that again, cause if you're lying then that net gross will go down by another 100 million munny, when your head is nailed against my wall" he said darkly with a murderous glare as Maximus remained silent, he turned away and motioned for Lockdown to follow him, as he left there where cries of rage and protest as various other hunters began to argue and bicker with each other.

Maximus simply ignored him as the two of them left the building and started walking down a long flight of stairs to where they had parked their ships.

"When will that idiot learn that I'am not afraid of him?" said Maximus crossing his arms and looking back at the guild hall with a look of disgust.

"Regardless of how Slaughter has negated to treat you fairly in the past Maximus, he does raise a valuable point. How can you be certain that this newest bounty will lead us back to the glory days?" said Lockdown.

"Look, all you need to know is that the leader of the Necron's, Shockwave, has given me a mission and when we've done it we'll have spared ourselves from their wrath" he said as Lockdown gave what Maximus could only assume was a chuckle.

"I see, so you are protecting us? I wasn't aware of your sudden care for our wellbeing Maximus, I'm touched" he said with a hint of sarcasm as Maximus scoffed.

"Yeah right, I just don't want to get my ass burned off when the fire comes, y'know? But anyway enough babbling on about bullshit, we've got work to do. Are the preparations complete?" he said as Lockdown nodded.

"My squad will meet with us on route to our destination" he said as Maximus grinned evilly.

"Then I think it's about time we gave Destiny Islands and those little Keybearer's a visit"

KH

_Destiny Islands _

Riku sighed loudly for the hundredth time as he waited for Sora to finish changing into what he would be wearing for the night out with Kairi.

Riku had gone for his standard black shirt with a dark navy tie and pair of black jeans, he wanted to keep as low a profile as possible and had tied his long hair into a ponytail; unlike Sora he wasn't trying to impress anybody.

Sora on the other hand had spent the last four hours trying to get ready, he had showered three times, poured unholy amounts of gel into his hair, had shaved until every last miniscule of stubble was gone and must have sprayed himself with every known deodorant known to man.

"Dude by the time you're done it'll be like 4 in the morning, move your ass!" he yelled as Sora poked his head out from his bedroom and glared at Riku who simply crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at him.

"I know all right! Sorry I'm just really stressed, what is Kairi going to think if I turn up looking like a dork?" he said as Riku rolled his eyes.

"I don't think they'd be much difference" Riku muttered under his breath as Sora let out a cry of frustration and banged his head against the wall.

"Sora?! You ok honey?!" Riku heard Sora's mother shout concerned as he laughed and shouted back down to her.

"He's fine April! He's just stressed, I'll make sure he's fine!" shouted Riku before he kicked open the door to Sora's room and walked in and grabbed Sora by the back of the collar and walked over to his wardrobe.

"Right let's see what we've got in here" he said and grabbed a pair of light navy jeans and a deep blue shirt and a black tie, "Right put this on and you'll wet some panties for sure" he said and left and ignored Sora's protests.

Only five minutes later did Sora finally walk out, Riku had to admit he looked pretty good and then suddenly realised he had even furthered lowered his chances of winning Kairi's affection with looks alone, since he knew that despite being friends for so long he and Kairi didn't really have that much in common.

"Do I really look ok?" said Sora as he checked himself in the mirror as Riku sighed and put his arm on Sora's shoulder and more or less dragged him outside and into his car, being 18 Riku was the only one in the trio that could drive and he took great pride in his shiny silver Chevrolet, it had cost him more munny than his parent would have ever approved but being a Keyblade Wielder did have its advantages.

Riku quickly drove off and into the central town, Sora was completely quiet and even through the corner of his eye Riku could see his was shaking, "You're not seriously scared of seeing Kairi are you? Come on man, you've fought giant monsters and saved the universe, pulling a girl shouldn't be too hard, even for a goon like you"

Sora looked over at him with a mixture of panic and annoyance, "You're missing the point Riku! Heartless, Nobody's and Unversed I can handle because I actually know what I'm doing when I see them but with girls its different, I don't know how they work or what I need to do to get them to like me, especially someone as beautiful as Kairi" he said as Riku laughed.

"Oh I see so you'd rather get it on with a Nobody eh? Well not that I blame you, Namine' and Xion are both pretty cute" he said as Sora smacked him on the back of the head.

"That's not what I meant, look Riku you've got to help me. If Kairi does something and I don't know what's going on you need to help me, ok? Please?" he said with a look of desperation as Riku could only laugh and shake his head.

"_This is going to be a loooooooooong night_" he thought to himself as they drove into the centre of town, suddenly he spotted someone in the street and shouted in surprise, "Holy balls! Is that Yuffie?!" he shouted as Sora looked around and saw a familiar black hair girl standing outside what looked like a Chinese restaurant, she didn't look happy in the slightest.

"Um? Yeah I think it is? I wonder what's she's doing all the way out here?" said Sora but Riku didn't bother answering and instead let out an ecstatic whoop so loud it honestly scared Sora slightly, before tearing well over the speed limit and doing a 900 turn into a space next to the road so violently that Sora thought that the car was going to flip onto its side.

Yuffie looked rather confused but also amused as she walked over as Riku lowered on of the front car windows and poked his head out and grinned at her.

"Well, well, well what do we have here. You two boys trying your best luck at pulling some women cause I have to admit, you know how to make an entrance?" said Yuffie smiling as Riku grinned smugly.

"Damn right, care to join us? You don't look like you're doing anything else" said Riku as Yuffie gave one last look around before shrugging and getting into the back seat.

"I was supposed to meet Leon but its looks like he's off seeing someone else, what a stupid jerk!" she said kicking the back seat hard as Sora winced slightly but Riku looked rather pleased.

"Oh well, his lose I guess. Anyway where you guys heading exactly?" said Yuffie as they drove off further into town.

"Kairi's wanting to snog Sora in some new fancy club in the centre of town. It's some kind of light show club or something, its gay" said Riku as Sora shot him a glare whilst Yuffie simply laughed and ruffled Sora's hair.

"Awwwwwwww and you're having to look after them and make sure they don't sneak for a bit of nookie? Haha! That's so cute!" she said as Sora's face went red with embarrassment and Riku burst out laughing.

"Aye, that's the jist of the situation anyway" said Riku as Yuffie pretended to look like she was thinking but she had made a decision ages ago.

"All right well I guess I can hang out with you guys for a bit, that is if you want me to of course" she said with a wink, Riku didn't even have to answer and drove as fast as he could to where they were meeting Kairi.

Suddenly this night seemed like it was going to be the best night ever.

_KH_

_Destiny Islands- Inside Club Destiny_

The nights on Destiny Islands were unique in the summer in that the sun never truly settled, it would disappear only very briefly before beginning once again to light the planet with a dull glow that would be full by noon.

As such to any teens out partying and drinking a night could last as long as they wanted and Sora, Riku, Kairi and Yuffie had already been out for a good few hours and weren't even aware that it was nearly two in the morning.

The club was exactly how Kairi had described it, loud with lots of flashing lights with loud thumping music that seemed to make every person in the club have the need to sway their hips. Sora and Riku had been greeted rather enthusiastically by Kairi who was already rather tipsy and had immediately grabbed Sora and dragged him off to the dance floor, Riku hadn't seen them since.

"So go on then! What the deal with you and Sourpuss being here, besides gracing yourself with my presence" he said half serious and half cheekily as Yuffie laughed and took a sip of some purple cocktail that Riku had no idea what it was called or what was in it.

"It's not very exciting to be honest, we've been told to keep an eye on the big man" she said nodding towards where Riku had last seen Sora, he could just make up the spikes of his hair but Sora was too busy exploring Kairi's mouth with his tongue.

"Well that didn't take very long" Riku thought to himself thought he wasn't actually that bothered and decided to keep talking to Yuffie, but she saw right through him.

"You like her don't you?" she said with a look of pity that Riku had never hoped to see, he sighed and downed his drink completely, suddenly the room seemed a lot bigger than before.

"Yeah well some things just aren't meant to be yah know?! But I think I definitely know what is meant to be, can you guess what it is?!" he said with a slight slur that made Yuffie burst into a fit of laughter.

"You going home with a raging hangover?!" she said as he simply grinned and moved closer to her, she instantly got the vibe and also moved closer to him, just as they were about to kiss Riku felt a fist punch his shoulder, he turned round and was met with a girl with short black hair and dark blue eyes, the same colure as Sora's and next to her was a another girl with long blonde hair, she looked rather nervous and looked slightly uncomfortable.

"Get a room you two, I think I might throw up" said the black haired girl as she pushed past Riku grinning as Riku looked at her shocked.

"Xion? Namine'? What are you guys doing here?" he shouted as Yuffie frowned and crossed her arms as Xion pushed her way between them.

"What? Am I and Nam not allowed to have fun, we have a life too you know" she said and ordered two vodkas and colas as Namine' smiled apologetically and mouthed "She wanted to see Sora" when Xion was looking away.

"So, how's life treating you Riku?" said Xion when she turned back round and handed Namine' a drink, which she immediately swapped with an empty glass when Xion was looking at Riku.

"Look if you want to talk to Sora you can try but I think he's a bit busy at the moment" said Riku nodding to over where Sora and Kairi where, they had moved off the dance floor but were still vigorously making out.

Naminé' winced as Xion looked absolutely furious and handed her drink over to Namine' before more or less storming over as Yuffie leaned over, "What's her problem?" she said as Riku sighed as Namine' sat down next to him, the three of them had moved to a nearby table.

"Back during the War we needed more Keyblade Wielders, as you know Sora had the hearts of Ventus, Roxas and others including Xion. She was initially created by the organisation and used as a puppet filled with the memories of Sora and Roxas. To cut a long story short she was revived by Sora and joined us in the fight against Xehanort, but she spent a lot of time with Sora and I guess she must have fell in love with him" he said as Yuffie looked confused.

"Well what's wrong with that?" she said as Riku looked over, Sora had finally stopped kissing Kairi and was listening to what Xion was saying, Riku could tell Kairi wasn't the slightest bit pleased with Xion being there, the two of them didn't get along very well.

"Look Xion, I'm sorry but I'm said I'd hang out with Kairi tonight so I'll talk to you later ok? Why don't you hang out with Roxas or Lea or something?" he said as Xion looked like she was about to burst into tears, she shoved Sora aside and left the club without a word to anyone.

"Nam you'd better go after her. Tell her we'll be out soon" he said, suddenly he didn't feel like partying as much anymore, he could see out of the corner of his eye Sora and Kairi arguing about something.

"You're leaving already?" said Yuffie, he could tell she was disappointed and could practically smell her drunkenness.

"Yeah sorry I think I've had enough for tonight, besides I wanna make sure Xion's ok. When she's distressed, she can get quite violent and I wanna spare the town some carnage" he said as Yuffie scoffed and looked away from him.

"Yuffie are you ok?" he said to which she launched into a massive rant

"Am I ok? Oh yeah I'm just fucking peachy! What happened between you and I, eh? How come whenever I when I decide to devote my time to someone they just brush me off like they're nothing to them, but when some other bitch comes along out of nowhere, and comes to you with a sad sob story about how everything's gone wrong with her and her love life, and how she has no one else in her life to trust but you, then suddenly you fawn over her like a lost little dog?! You're only doing this because you've fancied her all the time you've known her, and you've never had the fuckin' balls to tell her, and now what, you think you've got a chance to at least make her happy in her time of need? What about me, eh? What about my fuckin' needs, eh? You selfish bastard!" she said as she slapped him across the face and stormed out as Riku was left speechless.

Kairi and Sora both walked over to him, "What happened with her?" he said with an angry look as Kairi remained silent, Riku looked at the both of them with a dark glare.

"None of your business Sora, I'm going now to make sure Xion isn't bawling her eyes out. Maybe next time you could not be a dick to her" he said as he started walking away, Sora remained silent as Kairi grabbed his arm.

"Come on Sora, let's go back to mine for a bit. We can have some quiet time there" she said trying to get his attention back but Sora ignored her and stormed out after Riku.

"If you've got something to say to me Riku then say it!" he when was outside, Riku turned round but instead of shouting something back he looked up, something was approaching them.

It was a ship of some kind, large and silver and shaped like a horseshoe with what appeared to be a mechanical eye in the middle, a pore opened on the side of one of the wings and something shot out towards the club they were standing outside, Riku barely had a chance to shout Sora's name when the missile hit the building, the explosion was strong enough to send him flying off his feet.

He landed with a grunt, he was dazed for several seconds as people around him started screaming, there were flames everywhere and the street was littered with debris, Riku shouted Sora's name and saw him, his suit was charred slightly and he had a few cuts on his face but he was still alive, he had his Keyblade, the Kingdom Key in his hands and was looking around expecting an enemy to attack.

"Sora! You ok?! Where's Kairi?!" Riku shouted as he summoned his own Keyblade, the Way to the Dawn, and ran over to him.

"I'm here!" they both heard Kairi shout as she ran out of the burning club building coughing and spluttering but otherwise fine.

"You ok!?" said Sora as she nodded and looked up towards the sky, the ship was moving at a quick pace downwards towards the streets, Riku noticed that a massive dust cloud was forming underneath the ship, then he realised it wasn't a dust cloud, it was the ship sucking up and destroying buildings and cars and people a few streets down.

"We've gotta move!" shouted Riku as he grabbed them both and pushed them in the direction of his car.

"Wait what about Xion, Namine' and Yuffie!? They're out there somewhere?!" Sora shouted as he looked round desperately for his friends but couldn't see them.

"What's attacking us anyway?! Heartless? Other members of the Organisation!?" she said as they ran in the direction of Riku's car.

"Never mind, just get in" said Riku as he opened the door for her, Sora still standing looking for Xion and Namine' and Riku had and pull him back from the vortex that was being created by the ship.

"If they've been hurt I'll kill whoever is responsible for this is the most painful way possible" muttered Sora darkly as Riku tried his best to ignore what his friend had just said.

"Look Sora, Nam and Xion are tough, they'll be fine but we need to get to the door of the Islands and alert Mickey and the others about what's happening so let's go!" he shouted as he drove away from the vortex and started heading through the city.

"We'll never get through all this carnage in time, hang on!" shouted Riku as he turned sharply and drove of the edge of the road and through the grass and cross the beach.

Riku glanced out of the window and saw there were several cars being launched into the air by something on the highway, whatever it was it was strong and smashed straight through a bus, causing it erupt into flames as jumped over the edge of the highway and landed behind Riku's car and started to chase after them.

It was tall with long legs and arms and a short body with a fairly small head, its face was blank and featureless except for two small red eyes, it had long claws for fingers and was a dull grey and black colure, it ran fast and Riku knew that it would catch up with them any second.

"Here take the wheel" he said to Sora as he let go and opened the window on the roof, both Sora and Kairi shouted his name as he started to climb out "See yah in a bit, don't go dying now" he said grinning before leaping out.

"Whoa! Riku what the hell are you doing?!" shouted Sora as Kairi screamed for him to keep his eyes on the road, Riku flipped over the car and activated his armour, in mid-air. He, Sora and Kairi had acquired this armour at the beginning of the Keyblade War to help them fight in the World of Darkness, it was based off the armour Terra, Aqua and Ventus had worn.

His armour was silver with black lines going up his arms and legs and making an X shape across his chest, his helmet had long horns pointing down, similar to Aqua's helmet. He landed in front of the robot with a crash as it let out an inhumane noise and grappled with him.

The two of them crashed and rolled down the edge of the cliff that Sora was driving down, the robot sucker punched Riku in the face; he retaliated by kicking it in the face so hard one of its eyes popped out, sending the robot flying and crashing into some tress.

Riku clicked his fingers and a silver glider appeared next to him, he quickly jumped on it and started flying after Sora and Kairi, the robot had picked itself up and was not far behind him.

Sora drove down as fast as he could, he swerved and dodged several trees as Riku and the robot continued to fight. He noticed an opening that heading toward the lower highway and decided to take a chance, "Hold on!" he shouted to Kairi and drove as fast he could through the path.

Riku could only shout in protest as he saw how dirty his car was once Sora blasted through a large puddle, covering it in muck and dirt.

"Dammit Sora you're paying for that!" he shouted, he then flew forward and spun round to face the robot only for it grab him in its claws and jump high into the air, he threw Riku to the ground but he rolled out of the way of the robots incoming claws.

He dodged again and summoned the Way to the Dawn, he waited for the robot to attack again and sliced straight through its arm as a dark purple aura appeared around the blade, he then jumped up and grabbed the robot in a headlock and smashed it down into the ground, he then thrusted his blade into the robots neck and tore its head clean off.

"Way to go Riku!" shouted Kairi as Sora grinned, they watched their friend tear himself free from the robots body and as such did not notice the figure heading towards them, Riku barely had time to shout their names when Lockdown slid down in front of them and extended a blade from his arm and cut vertically straight through his car.

Then car split in half, both Sora and Kairi where flung into the air. They both activated their own armour before they could hit the ground. Kairi's armour was a dark ruby red colure with silver linings going down her arms and legs whilst Sora's was a dark sapphire blue with black linings down across his back and chest.

Sora summoned the Ultima Weapon, a legendary keyblade that he had acquired from the World of Sleep whilst Kairi summoned Destiny's Embrace, a flowery looking Keyblade that was packed a much larger punch than it looked.

The three of them formed a circle back to back as Lockdown clicked his fingers, two more robots like the one Riku had fought landed down next to him. They reached behind them and both pulled out two long swords for each hand, they were black with red eyes which only further reminded Sora of the creatures he had fought in the war.

"You will pay for what you have done to our world!" shouted Sora as he charged forward, he leapt upwards and landed on Lockdowns back where he began hacking away at his head, Lockdown grunted and grabbed Sora by the head and threw him in the direction of the highway.

"Keep the target away from the others, Maximus will finish him off; kill the others if you must" Lockdown said to the two robots before running in the direction Sora had landed.

The two robots began to attack Riku and Kairi, they were almost like dancers that used their feet and sometimes their teeth to relentlessly attack the two of them so quickly all they could do was dodge or block.

"Their trying to keep us separated from Sora! Kairi I need you to hold them off for me for just a second!" shouted Riku as he leapt into the air, Kairi swung her blade and it ricocheted off one of the robots head and sliced a hand of the other one as Riku became surrounded by a dark aura.

"DARK FIRAGA!" he shouted as he pointed his Keyblade down to where the two robots where, Kairi realised what to do and quickly used Barrier to surround herself in a shield of light energy.

A large dark fireball was launched from Riku's blade and engulfed the two robots in a dark blast of energy, but two their horror when the blast ended the two robots where still there, they were battered and scorched but still functional.

"Oh you gotta be kidding me! Ok change of plan, let's cut them to pieces, Kairi!" he shouted as he landed back down beside her.

Sora grunted and shouted as he landed and rolled across the ground of the highway he had landed on, he quickly composed himself and waited for Lockdown to attack, he saw that the town was in flames and the ship that started the attack was now hovering over towards them.

More robots leapt out from the ship and started advancing towards him, they walked on four spider like legs and they lacked any facial features but their bodies had two large machine guns on either side.

"If want a piece of me then come and get me you bastards!" Sora as he ran forward and started slicing his way through them, he used his own shield magic to deflect the bullets and raised his keyblade into the air and summoned a barrage of lightning bolts.

Whilst Sora was fighting them Lockdown was slowly advancing toward him, he stopped and his face began to transform, a large cannon pushed itself up from inside his chest and moved to where his head used to be, which had opened up and folded behind the gun.

Riku and Kairi both saw what was happening and rushed on ahead, they had made quick work of the injured robots; Riku quickly summoned his glider and motioned for Kairi to jump on.

Lockdown aimed to where Sora was fighting and fired, there was a massive explosion that sent Sora flying and destroyed several robots. The impact was enough to damage Sora's armour to wear he had to remove his helmet to stop if from burning him, his face was bruised and cut but he still was still very capable of fighting.

He braced himself for another attack as Lockdown started to recharge his cannon, but unfortunately for him he did not anticipate Riku extending a pair of blades from the front of his glider and launching it forward like a missile, the glider impaled Lockdown through the chest.

Lockdown fell to his knees but did not react in any way as his gun went back into his chest as his head reformed, Riku landed next to Sora along with Kairi.

"You ok?!" shouted Riku as Sora nodded and the three of them stood close together.

"Ok, what do you want with Sora?! Tell us now!" said Kairi as her Keyblade became surrounded by electricity, instead of answering Lockdown nodded to something behind them as he removed the glider from his back.

The ship that was attacking the city had started to hover down towards them, the hanger door opened and someone dropped down to the platform, it was Maximus.

It all happened before any of them could react, Riku turned round to see Maximus aiming his shotgun at Sora and firing. The bullet went straight through Sora's chest and the pavement was showered with his blood as Sora could only gasp in shock.

Both Kairi and Riku looked at him stunned and in total shock as Sora looked down at the bloody hole in his chest before falling to his knees, Kairi was the first to react and caught him before he hit ground.

"Sora! Oh god no! No, please no, please god no. Stay with us" screamed Kairi in hysterics as she tore off her own helmet and covered Sora's wound with her hands as best she could whilst Riku clenched his fists so hard his armour cracked.

"Pfft, to easy" muttered Maximus as he shouldered his weapon and turned round and started walking back to his ship, he then heard Riku's roar of anger as he charged towards Maximus.

"BASTARD!" he screamed as he swung his blade at Maximus, Maximus dodged expertly and kicked Riku in the face, Riku went flying and landed with a crash.

"If you're going to attack someone from behind don't fucking roar and alert them so that they can attack you first, moron. Come on Lockdown we're off, let's let them cry for a while and then we can come back and kill them all" he said before jumping up back into his ship, Lockdown leapt into the air and transformed into a futuristic jet and flew after Maximus ship, which had started to leave the planet.

Kairi was crying as she desperately tried to heal Sora's wound, Sora coughed blood out of his mouth as she held his hand and continued to whisper soothing things to him. Riku clutched the side of his face in pain as he limped over to where his friends where.

"Please don't do this Sora, you can't die now. Not like this, please don't leave me" she said as he clutched her hand, Riku tried his best to compose himself.

"Riku please help me, can't you do anything?" she said as Riku didn't say anything, he couldn't think of even what to say.

"Kairi" whispered Sora as she turned round and looked into his eyes, it was a look she had dreaded seeing ever since he had ever started fighting, he knew he was going to die.

"I'm sorry but this is it, your both my best friends and I love you both. But please don't let this stop you from having a great life Kairi, please do that for me Kairi, have a great life" he said, with each word his breath became weaker, he had tears in his eyes as did Kairi, he looked at Riku.

"Look after her for me" he said smiling as Riku could only nod and placed his hand and Kairi shoulder as she kept sobbing.

"I love you Kairi…please…..don't…forget….me" said Sora before he closed his eyes and drew his last breath and then went still, Kairi exploded into a fit of crying as Riku tried his best to compose himself, but he couldn't and in the end he started crying too.

He couldn't fathom it, his best friend, Sora, who he spend his whole life knowing, who had fought with him and defended him when he had fallen to darkness, someone who had vowed to protect and look after, was gone.

Sora was dead.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	3. Chapter 3

Kingdom Hearts: Darkness Rising

**A fair warning for those easily offended, this chapter contains a lot of foul language. **

Chapter 3: Revengance

It was morning on Destiny Islands and the attack on the centre of town that night at the hands of Maximus and Lockdown hadn't really sunk in with some people yet. The town was usually so peaceful and relaxed that when something like this happened no-one was sure quite how to react.

But it didn't take long for the authority's and anyone else willing to help to get the fires under control and to rescues as many people as they could from the rubble, the lower half of the town had been utterly devastated and the death toll was at least over a hundred, most of them young people which meant that it was now the cruel task for police officers to inform many worried parents the worst possible news they could hear.

The once busy main street was now completely deserted except for two people that were walking side by side, Xion and Namine'.

Namine' looked up to blood colored red sky; she knew that it was a sign. She had been told than a blood red sky meant that blood had been spilt the night before but even she couldn't believe how many people had died that night, but there was one that was a blow to all of them.

They had given chase after Riku and Kairi that night and the last thing they had expected or wanted to find was Kairi clutching Sora's dead bloody corpse with her crying so hard it seemed to physically hurt Naminé's heart, Kairi was like a sister to her and Sora had been the first real friend she'd ever have, Riku looked in a state of pure shock and his face was pure white.

"Oh god, what happened? Kairi , please say something" said Namine' as she leant down in front of her friend and tried to get a reaction out of her but it was Xion who finally broke through her.

"You stupid bitch! What the hell have you done! You let Sora die! You were supposed to protect him and you let him die! Oh god, he's dead" she shrieked but then broke down herself as Kairi looked up at her with her bloodshot eyes and didn't hesitate to punch Xion in the face, hard.

"Don't you dare judge me you stupid little bitch! What the hell do you know about anything! Do you not think I wouldn't have given my life to save Sora, I loved him Xion and unlike you, he loved me back because I wasn't an annoying, attention seeking little skank!" she shrieked as Xion looked up at her with tears in her eyes.

"ENOUGH!" roared Riku as he snapped back into reality, he grabbed Kairi's arm and pulled her away from Xion, Namine' helped Xion up to her feet. Xion didn't say anything and hid her face from Riku before walking away.

"Let go of me" snarled Kairi as she wretched her arm away from Riku and sat down next to Sora and started to stroke his hair, she had done that for the past half an hour since she had literally no more tears to cry.

"Kairi, we….need to move him" said Riku as he motioned as Namine' gave him a pained look as Kairi shook her head.

"He's not going anywhere" said Kairi holding onto Sora, getting blood all over her hands.

It didn't take very long for an ambulance to arrive and not long after that, Yuffie and Leon along with several other Council representatives, they took them to the nearest hospital which was already busy but they eventually found themselves, there he saw Yuffie and Leon, who both looked very distressed.

Yuffie gave Riku a sympathetic look as a man with long silver hair and dark grey eyes approached Riku, "Master Riku, I'm truly sorry for what has happened here. I do not want to come across as brash but I must ask, how did Master Sora die?" he said, Riku recognised him as a man named Alvis.

"We were attacked, completely unprovoked. I have no idea who they are, but they came here for a reason….to" he began but still couldn't bring himself to say it.

"Assassinate Master Sora?, I see" Alvis finished for him as Riku could only nod; Yuffie covered hand with her mouth and ran over to hug him as Leon bowed his head in respect.

"I'am truly sorry for your loss Master Riku, we will allow you to have some time to recuperate but I must request that you speak to High Board as soon as possible, I will of course speak to King Mickey and the other board members about what has happened here. I must be off, sorry once again for your loss" he said as Riku gave a half nod.

"Yuffie, come on. We should try and help out as much as we can with the clean-up" Leon said as Yuffie let go of Riku.

"Will you be ok?" she said as Riku nodded and put on a brave face.

"I'll be fine, you guys go on ahead. I should be with Kairi. It's even harder for her than it is for me" he said as the two of them nodded.

"If you need anything, let us know, ok? I'm sorry about Sora Riku, he was a good man" said Leon with a look of respect in his eye as Riku managed a half smiled and nodded gratefully.

Once they left Riku took a deep breath and tried his best to remain calm, many people often didn't know it and even few had seen it but Riku had feared losing his friends more than anything, it was the only reason he had kept on fighting.

He had allowed Maleficent to manipulate him and he had betrayed his friend but he had redeemed himself, but the guilt had stayed with him all throughout the war and now he hated himself more than ever before, he had let Sora down and he knew Kairi would never forgive him for it.

But he had to talk to her, no matter how she might be feeling she was still his best friend and right now all he knew was that he needed to be with her.

Sora's body had been moved to a hospital bed, the doctors pronounced him dead after some attempted emergency surgery but even they knew it was false hope, he was pronounced dead not long after.

"Kai?" You in here?" said Riku as he looked inside and sure enough there she was, she wasn't crying anymore and instead simply sat there and stared at the covered body in the middle of the room, completely emotionless.

The dead look in her eyes seriously scared Riku and he sat down next to her, "Kairi, I know it hurts but you need to say something. Everyone is worried about you" he said as he saw Kairi clench her fists.

"I'm going to hunt him down and kill him" she muttered with a murderous look in her eyes as Riku feared the worst.

"Kairi?" he said with a worried look on his face, he knew what she had said but he had to make sure he wasn't hearing things wrong.

"I'm going to find the guy that did this and kill him and there's nothing anyone can say or do to stop me" she said with a look of pure hatred in her eyes.

"Kairi, did you not hear what Sora said before he died, he wants you to keep on living and you want to chase a dangerous criminal who is probably expecting us to try and extract revenge on him?" he said in protest.

She glared up at him and stood up to face him; Riku had to admit that this new angry version of Kairi was extremely frightening.

"So you don't feel the same then? You don't care that someone murdered your best friend!" she shouted as it was his turn to get angry.

"Of course I care! Kairi I want to get revenge on that bastard as much as you do but if we do then we'll be no better than him, Sora wouldn't want us to be murderers….again! Have you already forgotten what we did during the Keyblade War?! For Christ sake's Kairi I had to destroy an entire planet just to destroy Ansem!" he roared but then immediately stopped, he hadn't meant to blurt that last part out.

Kairi looked at him shocked and terrified, "…..What?" she said taking several steps back from him, Riku closed his eyes and looked away from her and walked away without another word, leaving Kairi alone to once again start sobbing over the body of his best friend.

_KH_

_Deep Space_

"Did you the look on that fucking bitchs face when I shot Sora? Hahahahaha! Fucking priceless! I bet she started crying and spluttering being all like "Ohhhhhhhhhhh when you walk away you can't hear me saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese oh baby!" Ummmmmmmmm…how do the rest of the words go again?" shouted Maximus who was laughing uncontrollably.

Lockdown had berated him for losing so many of his soldier's but Maximus couldn't have cared less, "So what? It's not like they were getting paid or anything. Now where was I? Oh yeah I was laughing!" he said before he started roaring with laughter once again.

"Oh my god and when his friend tried to jump me and I kicked him in the face and I actually saw tears in his eyes, it's gotta be the funniest thing I've ever seen!" he said as Lockdown shook his head.

"I have no concept of human emotions but if I did I would consider you to be a sadist" he said as Maximus scoffed.

"A sadist? Me? Yeah right, if I was a sadist I would have joined the Cult of Kefka years ago. Come on man, it's our job to kill people, if you can't get at least some amusement out of it then you're not a real bounty hunter" he said as Lockdown did not answer and instead started checking his body for repairs.

Maximus shrugged and went back to the controls of the ship, "Well, I think that after a job well done we deserve a break, Shockwave can wait. Let's head to the Motorhouse!" he said as he pushed in some coordinates and entered the void between worlds to reach his destination.

KH

Namine' had finally found Xion and after much hugging and tissues had finally calmed her down to where she could form proper sentences.

"I've managed to call Lea and Roxas, they'll be here soon, ok?" she said as she tried her best to make Xion smile, Xion merely nodded.

Namine' heard footsteps and looked round and gasped and grabbed Xion's arm in alarm. Xion whipped round and summoned her Keyblade, the Oathkeeper, a blade once used by Sora.

Standing in front of her was a near doppelganger of Sora, the only difference being his jet black hair and dark amber eyes, he was dressed in a black with the exception of his orange shirt, he stared down both of them before raising his hands and grinning nervously.

"Ummmmmmmmm….greetings? Sorry I'm not that great at greeting people" he said as Xion stared at suspiciously whilst Namine' relaxed slightly.

"What are you doing here Vanitas? Or the better question is, how did you get here?" said Xion as Vanitas crossed his arms.

"I'm here to find out what happened to my half-brother? I'm supposed to care about my family right?" he said as Xion looked at him disgusted and left, he looked at Namine' who looked around nervously.

"Calm down, I'm not gonna hurt you. I know I look scary but I'm nice really, I hope?" he said as she relaxed and started waking with him after Xion.

"So is it true then? Is Sora really…gone?" he said, choosing his words carefully as Namine' stopped, she turned to him and nodded with a sad look on her face, he clenched his fists.

"Damn it! Those bastards are going to pay, I didn't even get the chance to fight him again, now I'll never have a punching bag, not like Ven is any fun" he said as Namine' looked angry and slapped him hard across the face.

"Ow! Jesus balls, what the hell was that for?!" he said, wincing as he placed his hand on where she had slapped.

"You know, for a second I thought you might have changed and become a decent person, but clearly I was thinking to high, even for you Van. Everyone else thinks you're a lost cause and that Sora was a idiot to resurrect you and give you a second chance, but not me. I saw someone else during the war, I saw someone who could be a great man, but maybe I was wrong" she said as she started walking away.

"Oh come on Nam! I was joking!" he shouted in protest as she stopped and looked back at him, she didn't look angry anymore but she did look disappointed.

"Now is not the time for jokes Van and if you do truly care about what has happened to Sora then I would suggest staying away from Kairi or Riku, your appearance might cause either one of the to snap" she said before walking off and leaving him by himself.

"Damn it" he muttered and summoned a portal of Darkness, he stole one last look at Namine' before walking through, "Guess I still need some work with this whole friendship thing" he thought as the portal closed around him and he disappeared into the void between worlds.

_KH_

Riku walked as fast as he could through the hospital, he avoided eye contact with anyone and tried his best not to have a panic attack.

"Oh god, I just couldn't keep my mouth shut!" he shouted in his head and he bumped into someone, he immediately apologised only for a pair of arms to wrap around him and more sobbing began, it was Sora's mother.

"Oh dear god Riku, I don't even know what to say, my baby is gone and I'd only just got him back, he always spoke so highly about you and Kairi, oh god I don't even want to think about how she is feeling right now" she sobbed as he managed to pull away.

"She's with him right now Alison, she's very upset, we all are. I'm sorry, I let you down, I let everyone down, I couldn't protect him" he said as he clenched his fists and closed his eyes in a pained look as Alison shook her head and squeezed his shoulder.

"Don't be sorry sweetheart, I don't blame you and neither does anyone else, now please stay here with all of us, I think Kairi is going to need you for the next few days, so please take your time, don't be a stranger" she said before leaving, making him feel any worse.

He knew deep down that there was nothing he could have done to save Sora, it had all happened too quickly. But he knew that Kairi most likely blamed him and now probably didn't trust him either, thanks to his outburst earlier, he needed some fresh air.

When he did walk outside he found Xion and Namine, both looked very upset. He wasn't sure what to say to either of them so he choose the most sensible approach.

"Nam, Kairi's inside. Could you maybe go and see if she's ok for me, I'm not feeling to great and need to clear my head" he said as Namine' looked at Xion who nodded, Namine' patted Riku on the shoulder before walking in, leaving the two alone.

"I to sit down for a moment" said Riku breaking the silence, Xion nodded and sat down next to him. The two remained in awkward silence for about a minute as they both tried to think of the best thing to say.

"I'm sorry" they both said at the same time, earning a laugh from both of them as Xion moved closer to Riku and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Sorry for being a bitch" she said as he shook his head and allowed himself to smile.

"Don't be, you're in love with someone whoes taken, trust me I know the feeling" he said with a distant look, she looked at him surprised and then immediately understood.

"Riku…" she said but he cut her off with a hand wave.

"Do you trust me Xion?" he said as she looked at him confused and grabbed his hand, he turned to look at her as she smiled.

"Yeah, with my life" she said as he allowed himself to grin and stand up and stretch as she watched him confused.

"That's all I need right now, now come on, I know it's what none of us ever wanted to do but it's time to say goodbye" he said as he offered her his hand, she grabbed it but didn't move.

"Riku…..are you going to get the guy that did this to Sora?" she said as he turned back round, he looked shell-shocked and she knew it was a stupid question to ask.

The look vanished from his face almost instantly and replaced it with a sad smile, "Let's leave that for a better time, right now we need to be there for Sora and his family, come on" he said as she nodded and the two of them walked back into the hospital.

KH

_The Motorhouse_

The Motorhouse was a place permanently stuck in the theme of a 1960's Earth, it was filled with posters and records that decorated the wall with multiple Harley Davidson motorcycles hanging over head, there were neon lights displaying various messages in nearly every language known.

The popularity of the bar was further influenced by its popularity with bounty hunters and often people would just go to see tensions between fellow hunters build up and lead to an eventual brawl outside.

But today was a lucky one for Maximus and Lockdown, they had parked their ship outside and had prepared for the worst when they entered; after all they were two of the most famous and as such two of the most hated people in the business. But thankfully none of their fellow peers inside seemed that interested and some of them where even friends of Maximus.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" he said as he approached a group of three people, two guys and one girl. One guy was tall and well-built with dark skin and a pair a shades that he wore even indoors, he was dressed in a khaki sleeveless bulletproof vest with black combat boots and khaki trousers, the other was white skinned with long blonde hair tied in a ponytail wearing a red and yellow Hawaiian shirt and white trousers, the woman had tanned skin and light reddish brown hair tied in a ponytail, she wore short blue shorts and a black tank top which holstered two modified Beretta handguns.

"Hey look who it is? Maximus the Fucking Deadshot who hangs out with robots cause he can't get no fucking pussy!" the girl shouted with a laugh as Maximus pulled out his shotgun and aimed it at her head as the she pulled out her own guns and the entire bar went silent in anticipation.

"YOU WANNA DIE REVY?!" shouted Maximus as the two of them butted heads and started arguing loudly as Lockdown shook his head and sat down across from the other two.

"Benny, Dutch. How are things?" he said as Revy and Maximus continued to push each other like a pair of arguing kids.

"Pretty shitty if I'll be honest but I guess things couldn't be any worse than having to babysit Maximus" said Dutch as Lockdown could only shrug and look over to where Maximus and Revy where still arguing.

"Man will those two ever greet each other like civil human beings; if they keep this up they'll have the entire bar on us just trying to get them shut up" said Benny as Dutch groaned in annoyance.

"Yeah well even if I had asked for her number she would have bored me stupid with all her boring ass claims of being as she quotes, "really into intergalactic destruction!", bullshit" he said as she rolled her eyes.

"Ugh I'll never understand you Max, but seeing as how you're here you may as well get drunk. Hey barkeep! Two rums on us!" she shouted as the bartender filled up two glasses.

"Look I don't mind serving bounty hunters but the rule is that there's no weapons allowed to be drawed" he said as Revy and Maximus looked at each other before they both shot him dead.

"Fucking shithead, next time you try to order what I try to do I'll rip out your eyeballs and piss on your brain" said Maximus as he grabbed a bottle of beer from a fridge behind the bar.

"He's already dead dipshit" said Revy casually as she downed an entire shot of rum as Maximus returned to his seat next to her.

"Whatever, this place seems to have a new barman every week. Wish someone badass would take over this place, it's becoming a casual shithole" he said motioning over to a group of people dressed in business suits.

"Who cares, there's such little demand for us right now the best thing we can do is get totally wankered" said Revy as she took another free shot of rum.

Maximus rolled his eyes and was about to take a drink from his beer when Revy knocked it out of his hands and handed him a glass of rum.

"If you're going to hang out with me tonight Maxy you'd better start drinking like a real man and real men drink rum" she said grinning cockily at him as he scoffed and downed the glass.

"Not like I've got anything else better to do, all right then Rebecca cheeky shots until one of us pass out. Also if you ever call me Maxy again you'll be chewing the end of my elbow" he said as the two of them started to drink away as Lockdown continued to talk with Benny and Dutch for the next few hours

_Several hours later_

"I can't feel my head anymore, I think I'm about to fucking pass out" said Revy as Maximus tried his hardest not to pass out before her, his vision was blurry. Around them were nearly a dozen empty shot glasses each and several dried lemons

"Remind me to never have two Suicide Squads having already had five shots of rum again" he said as the door to the bar opened and nearly everyone gasped in surprise.

"Oh my god" someone whispered as Maximus, with great difficulty, managed to look over to see what the fuss was all about, his jaw nearly hit the floor when he saw who it was.

It was a human covered in orange and yellow and red armour with a green cannon for one of its arms and a green visor that covered its face with a red helmet, it was the legendary bounty hunter, Samus Aran.

Samus removed her helmet revealing her stern looking face with long blonde hair tied in a ponytail, she was considered by many to be very beautiful but her cold demeanour often pushed away a lot of people, especially her fellow hunters.

Maximus sat up straight and tried to compose himself as she walked up to the bar, he had known Samus for a very long time and she seemed to have a mutual hatred for him, no matter how hard he tried to get into her good books.

"Samus! What an unexpected pleasure, can I get you a drink? Hey barkeep, two high class drinks for me and my pal here!" he shouted enthusiastically only for his head to start spinning as she brought her fist down on his head and pushed Revy out of her chair and sat down and glared over at him as he managed to stand up, holding his head in pain.

"Argh, jeez, nice to see you too" he said as she shook her head and removed the rest of her armour, she wore a light blue skin tight outfit that covered her entire body, except for her head. She ignored the obnoxious wolf whistles and whoops of joy and turned round to glare at everyone, they immediately stopped and left her in peace.

"I don't know why you keep bothering to greet me whenever we encounter each other Maximus, you should know by now how much I loathe you" she said in a cold sarcastic voice as she helped herself to a bottle of cold water as Maximus continued to nurse the bruise on his head.

"Yeah I kinda got that impression, but you never took the chance to explain why. Go on, I'm curious" he said as she turned to him with a look that sent a shiver down his spine in fear.

"Let's count the reasons. You're selfish, egotistical, foul mouthed overly aggressive, poorly organised, lack any form of discipline or honour, lazy, irritatingly obnoxious, a lousy sense of humour and just plain….annoying" she said as he raised his eyebrows in amusement.

"Oh I'm sorry since when where you ever not glaring down at me with every second of your presence?" he said; now his turn to look aggressive as she shook her head and looked away from him.

"I'am only kind to people to those who I think need it, the only reason you want to be my friend is so that I can save you is something goes wrong and you're backed into a corner with no way out. You have no interest in me as a person and that is why I hate you" she said.

He leaned back in fear as she threw her empty bottle in his direction, as she turned he noticed a light burn mark on her face.

"All right, all right if you really wanna get all domestic I'll try again. How are you Samus and what happened to your face?" he said, trying to act as sincere as possible as she looked at him confused.

"What do you mean what happened to my face?" she said as he nodded to wear the scar was, she touched it with her hand and winced slightly before looking away shamefully, "Ah, I see. I got careless once again" she muttered before standing up and summoning her armour until only her face was left uncovered.

"Samus! Was it Ridley?" said Maximus as she started walking away, she turned back round to face him as he stood up and tried to approach her.

"Look if you need any help taking him down, I can help, I won't even ask for half of the bounty. How does 40/60 sound…" he said but she grabbed him by the neck and slammed him down on a table before he could finish.

"Let me make one thing very clear to you Maximus, I don't need your help to take down that bastard. He escaped me once and he will not escape me again and if you or anyone else try to interfere in my personal business then I will not hesitate to obliterate you into a million piece with my Plasma Beam! Do I make myself clear!?" she roared as he gulped and nodded fearfully as she relaxed his grip on him slightly.

"Oh and the reason why I came here was to warn you, Slaughter is on his way here and he doesn't seem happy in the slightest. Whatever you've done this time it must be worse than ever, so take my advice for once and leave soon" she said before letting go and covering her face with her helmet and left.

Maximus was left lying on the floor staring at the ceiling with a bemused look on his face as he spread his arms out and didn't even bother trying to get back up on his feet.

"Why are all the best girls in this universe fucking nutjobs?" he said before passing out

**TO BE CONTIUED **


	4. Chapter 4

Kingdom Hearts: Darkness Rising

Chapter 4: An Unclear Motive

**Authors Note: As usual expect a lot of bad language and violence, that is all**

_Destiny Islands _

It had been nearly an entire week since Sora had been killed following Maximus' attack, the damage to the town was still severe but the people of the island and their friends from other worlds that Sora, Riku and Kairi had saved swarmed in to help, even in death Sora brought people from other worlds closer together.

As for Riku and Kairi they had the unfortunate duty of helping Sora's mother prepare his funeral, the two barely spoke at all as Riku took every opportunity to avoid Kairi, he knew what she was going to ask him each time they were alone and he didn't want to give her an answer because in truth he felt exactly the same as her, but he was torn by his selfish desire for revenge and his more honourable side of just letting it go and moving on and helping people.

Alison knew Sora wouldn't have wanted anything flashy or big for his funeral and as such those who were invited were only a select few and soon Kairi and Riku found themselves sitting in a church next to each other surrounded by others that Sora has met on his travels.

Of course there was King Mickey, Master Yen Sid, Donald and Goofy, the four of them had their heads bowed and Goofy handed Donald a tissue when he started crying again.

Many others showed up including; Yuffie, Leon, Cid, Aerith, Cid, Pinocchio, Stich, the pixies Yuna, Rikku and Paine and Cloud from Radiant Garden.

Tarzan, Jane from Deep Jungle. Peter Pan and the Lost Boys from Neverland. Jack Skellington and Sally from Halloween Town. King Simba, Timone and Pumba from the Pride Lands. Hercules and Phil from Olympus Coliseum. Mulan and Chang from the Land of Dragons. All of the Princesses of Heart. Neku and his friends from Shibuya and of course his fellow Keyblade Masters, Aqua, Ventus, Terra, Roxas, Lea, Xion and Namine' and much to Riku's surprise and Kairi's anger, Vanitas who, under Naminé's advice, had cut his hair to avoid it looking like Sora's, it still didn't stop some people from whispering.

The service itself was rather short and simple; Riku spent most of the service avoiding Kairi's eyes and providing a shoulder for Alison to cry on.

Eventually it came to the point where people could say what they wanted about Sora. Donald and Goofy went first and they talked about the adventures they had gone on with him, it was clear to Riku that they would miss Sora immensely.

Riku himself was rather on edge during the funeral, he had the shaking suspicion that he was being watched.

Despite not being invited to the funeral Alvis and a group of other people that Riku didn't recognise had turned up and had been watching him closely, safe to say it made him nervous and he kept a close eye on Kairi in case anyone from the group tried to catch her off guard, he had a sneaking suspicion they were there for a reason.

Soon enough it was Riku's turn to say something to everyone, Kairi hadn't spoken to anyone since the service had begun, even Namine' couldn't get a word out of her, all she did was stare at the coffin.

Despite some protests from family and friends the funeral service had refused an open casket, so Riku had to look down a piece of wood with a cross and some flowers on and tried to imagine that Sora was underneath.

He looked out into the crowd, every eye was on him

"Sora…my oldest friend….my rival…who I would consider to be my brother. He brought out the best in me, I was never exactly the nicest kid when we were young and people often avoided me, but not him, I kept pushing him away and he wouldn't leave, he was stubborn as a kid..heh…and yet I could never hit him or shout at him and eventually I began to watch over him, I guess you could say I became his guardian angel. No matter what danger I was in he would be there for me, I taught him everything I thought I knew about how to fight, about how to talk to people but in truth it was him that taught me something special that I think he taught all of us, that he did what he did because he cared and we in turn learned to care about other worlds and it was this that united us during the Keyblade War. Yes its true I once betrayed Sora when I was younger and inexperienced and I regret my part in those events but he never asked for an apology and still had faith in me and that is what allowed me to keep going…and so it is with great sadness and utter heartbreak that I must say goodbye to him, he was my best friend and I will continue to keep fighting threats to our world and other worlds, just as we have done these past few years, I don't know how else to describe Sora. Aside that he was one of the bravest, funniest, strongest and most friendly people I've ever met, I will miss him immensely" he said with a look of great sadness that no-one, not even Kairi had seen on his face.

When it looked like he was done the minister thanked him but Riku raised his hand to signal that he wasn't done, "Sorry, I know what I'm about to say would be considered out of character for those who know me but I want to make something very clear" he said, his voice had become dark and serious.

"I'am going to find the son of a bitch that did this to my best friend and I will not rest, not leave any planet unexplored, not a single stone unturned until he is brought to justice" he said as he looked to Alvis, "and no-one is going to stop me. May Sora rest in peace, my best friend"

KH

Maximus was not usually someone who got scared easily but in the situation he was now in it was safe to say he was shitting himself. Not long after Samus had left he had heard to roaring engines of Sergeant Slaughter's ship and sure enough the man kicked down the door with such force they went flying off and crashed into a group of drunks, instantly setting off everyone in the bar to pull out their guns and aim them at him as he walked in, when they realised who it was they were aiming at they immediately put their guns down and either ran out of the bar and hid underneath their tables as Slaughter walked in.

Maximus gulped loudly as he nodded to Lockdown and quickly turned round and tried to pull out his shotgun but Slaughter was too fast for him, in a matter of seconds Slaughter had grabbed him by the throat and choke slammed him through the nearest table.

He looked down at Maximus with a disapproving glare as Maximus glared up at him, "Hello to you too, father" he said with a snarky look as Slaughter scoffed and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't get your older brother to pull your fucking head off and shit down your neck?" he said as Maximus looked past him, faking surprise.

"Oh so Reno's here too? Oh great! All we're missing now is my dearest sister and this could be a great big family reunion of nutcases" he said as another man walked into the bar.

He was tall, taller than even his father, with spiky red hair at the front and a long ponytail at the back, he was dressed in a black blazer that was opened with a lazily buttoned white shirt underneath, and he had a pair of red tattoos, one under each of his purple colored eyes.

He looked round with a disapproving look of disgust as he grabbed an empty bottle from random man and looked to Maximus, "Christ, of all the shit holes on the planet you had to come to scum suckiest joint where not even my shit would feel welcome, but I guess that suits someone like you then doesn't it?" he said to the man even though Maximus knew he was talking to him.

"Whatever, you wouldn't know a good place to drink even if it bit you on the end of your fucking dick" said Maximus as Slaughter glared at him with his single eye.

"If you could actually pay attention for a second my son, now would you mind explaining why you just killed Sora, the Keybearer who destroyed Xehanort? Is that you meant by giving us our time of glory back? By exposing us to all of his companions and ally's many of whom now want us dead?" he said as he dropped Maximus back down to the ground.

Reno grabbed Maximus and forced him to sit down in a chair across from Slaughter, "Look, I can explain so just calm your shit" said Maximus as Slaughter lit up a cigar.

"You have until I've finished with this to explain to me why I shouldn't pull your head off" he said before he started smoking.

"Ok first of all it was a job given to me by an employer and if you must know it was the leader of the Necron's, Shockwave" he said, both Reno and Slaughter stopped what they were doing and looked at him, trying to work out if he was lying or not.

"And you just went "Yeah sure I'll kill one of the most loved and respected warriors in the universe and have no thought about how this will affect my father's business in any way"?" said Slaughter as he kept puffing on his cigar whilst Reno shook his head in disappointment, Maximus looked at the two of them confused.

"You guys are acting like I've committed the greatest sin known to mankind, Shockwave has promised us protection from the Necron invasion he has planned, he said that Sora was a threat and had to be eliminated and that's what I've done, I did my job. I mean come on, we're bounty hunters, we kill people for money its what we do, you've never ever had a problem with who I've killed before?!" he said in protest as Slaughter slammed his hand on the table.

"YES! Because then I knew what you were doing and if you had been killed I could have written it off as a tragic accident but know you have exposed us to the other Keyblade wielders and in case you've forgotten they destroyed Master Xehanort with little effort and we are a small force and while yes me and your brother and even your sister are strong enough to continue but you have yet to prove yourself as anything other than a liability and now you have attracted some unwanted attention" he said as Maximus suddenly understood where he was coming from.

"Ahhhhhhhh, now I see what this is all about. This isn't actually about your work or any of the guild's business, this is about me, the youngest son that your wife died giving birth to and has so far proved to be as worthy in your own words "as a cockless goat" and you want to test me, don't you?" he said darkly as Slaughter chuckled and stopped puffin on his cigar.

"You catch on quick my son, now here is what I want you to do. The Keyblade wielders are having a meeting at the Mysterious Tower, you will go there and dispose of them. Take as many hunters as you need, you have 48 hours. If you haven't taken their heads, then I'll take yours. If you are successful then I'll acknowledge you as my son, do I make myself clear?" he said as Maximus looked at him shocked as Reno walked behind Maximus and grabbed his shoulders roughly.

"You can't seriously expect me to kill all of the Keybearer's when they are in the presence of both a King and a powerful wizard, have you finally lost it?" he said in protest as Slaughter raised an eyebrow and leaned forward.

"If you would rather lose your head now then I'd be very happy to ask The Butcher to come in here and finish the job" he said as another man entered the bar, he was tall and very muscular with dead grey skin, half of his face was covered by a metal plate, his other half was featureless save a for a small hole where his eye should be, Maximus gulped as he looked down at the oversized butcher knife the man had in one of his hands.

He looked back to his father, "I will take as many soldiers and hunters as I wish and I will make you proud father, or die trying" he said bowing his head in fake loyalty as Slaughter smiled and stood up as Reno released his grip on Maximus who could finally relax.

"Good, then I will leave you to your duties. I shall tell your sister about your situation and we shall prepare a feast for your victory and who knows, maybe you can once again see the person that means to most you or I shall feed her your flesh and make her enjoy it" he said as he stood up and started to leave with Reno following, Slaughter turned round to have one last look at his son.

"And one more thing Maximus, if you were thinking your friend Samus was going to get off easy for alerting my presence to you before I arrived will go unpunished then you are mistaken, as we speak she is being hunted down by the Dreads, so you don't only have your life and your associates life's on your hands but your dear friend as well, no pressure" he said just to add to insult as Maximus grudgingly bowed his head.

"As you command my lord" he said as Slaughter laughed and left as Maximus gritted his teeth and clenched his fists as Lockdown finally moved, the bar had been silent but everyone's eyes where now on Maximus.

"So, what now?" said Lockdown folding his arms as Maximus remained silent, he looked round and saw that everyone was still watching.

"Leave us, NOW!" he roared as everyone quickly stumbled and ran out until only he and Lockdown were left.

"We head for the Necron fortress, my father thinks I can kill six powerful warriors by myself and it doesn't take a genius to figure out he simply wants me killed. But I won't let him win, I swore an Oath to Shockwave and I intend to keep it and he can provide me with the weapons and soldiers I need and so we head for planet X"

KH

_Several hours later, Mysterious Tower _

It was time for their next move.

Riku, Kairi, Lea, Aqua, Ventus, Terra, Xion, Namine' and even Vanitas had all gathered around the desk of the great wizard Yen Sid, next to Yen Sid was King Mickey, Donal and Goofy.

"I thank all of you for coming on such short notice but there is a very important matter to be discussed, in wake of Master Sora's death there has been a steady increase in the activity of bounty hunters, we are hearing of our ally's worlds being attacked and there is talk of strange sightings in the realm between worlds, I cannot see it but there is some force moving through our universe and it is a force we cannot even begin to fathom its destructive power" he said with a grim expression as everyone looked round at each with a look of despair.

"It's only been six months since the war and we may already have another one on our hands?" said Ventus as Aqua placed a hand on his shoulder and looked to Yen Sid.

"Master, I trust you have some kind of strategy?" she said as Yen Sid shut his eyes and sighed as Mickey spoke up, Riku noticed there was a look he had never seen on Mickeys face before, it was a look of hopeless.

"I'm afraid there is no current plan as of yet Aqua, the Council of Radiant Garden have ignored our warnings and taking no action, we don't know why but there is something very wrong going on in that city" he said as Kairi scoffed.

"Bunch of cock sucking bastards! They sat there on their pretty thrones while we did all the fighting, kind of like someone else we know!" she snarled looking at Yen Sid and Mickey as everyone, except Vanitas who laughed earning a punch from Namine', looked at her in shock.

"Kairi! Show some respect" said Ventus wincing as Kairi turned to him.

"What? I'm not allowed to use foul language, oh I'm sorry I forgot I'm a lady!" she snapped as Riku grabbed her shoulder.

"It's not that Kai, it's the fact that this isn't you! Look Sora's death has affected all of us, but that doesn't mean you can just be disrespectful, Master Yen Sid and everyone else on the council has gone through a lot for us, now you can either stop being a bitch or go back home and spend the rest of your life sulking!" he said, she stared at him with a glare as he kept his ground until she relaxed.

"My apologies Master Yen Sid. Your Majesty, I meant no disrespect" she said and bowed her head shamefully as Yen Sid nodded to her.

"It is ok Master Kairi, we have all suffered much with Master Sora's death but we need you to be strong for us, for him. I have a task for each of you and I need all of you to put aside your feelings of grieve for now" he said, he was being harsh but he was also being true, as far as Riku was concerned it was not the time for grieve and he didn't trust the council any more than he did the Organisation of Xehanort.

"Ventus, Aqua and Terra, I want the three of you to go to Castle Oblivion. There you will find the last remnant of a group of soldiers called Squad 7, their world was destroyed during the Keyblade War and I offered them the Castle as a temporary home, I want you to recruit them to our cause, we need all the help we can get" he said as the three of them nodded.

"Yes master" the three of them said together as Yen Sid nodded, Mickey looked to Kairi and Riku.

"Riku, Kairi you guys will be coming with me. May we like their work or not the Council are our allies, we need to speak with them immediately" he said as Riku nodded, Kairi had a sick look on her face but didn't say anything.

"Xion, Namine', Lea I want you to remain here in Twilight Town, we hang on the edge on the universe and as such we are vulnerable to attack, I need the three of you here to keep the Keyhole safe, until we learn the exact nature of who we're dealing with" he said as the three of them nodded as Vanitas finally spoke up.

"That's great and all but what am I meant to do?" he said as everyone looked at each other for an answer.

"You will remain here where I can keep an eye on you" said Yen Sid with his usual frown as Vanitas groaned.

"Oh come on, can I at least go with one of them? They could use an extra hand and I owe Sora my life, so I should at least do something" he said with a look of sincerity no-one would have expected from him.

"Very well then Vanitas you can go with Xion and her group" said Yen Sid as Vanitas grinned and Xion rolled her eyes but accepted none the less.

"I don't think I need to stress this but I may as well say it before we all go our separate ways" Riku said as everyone turned to him, "This is potentially the most dangerous situation we've been in since the war, we need to watch each other's backs for the man that killed Sora, he could target anyone of us next so stay together" he said as everyone nodded and said their goodbyes to each other.

"Take care of yourself yeah?" said Namine' as she hugged Kairi tightly as Kairi smiled for the first time in days and hugged her back.

"Sure thing Nam, you take care of yourself too, don't you dare die on me", saying the last part with a lump in her throat as Riku placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Look after he for me you big goon" said Namine' looking to Riku who laughed and nodded with a warm smile.

Mickey grabbed a small blue object from inside Yen Sid's desk; Riku recognised it as a Star Shard.

"Time to go" said Mickey holding out the Star Shard for Riku and Kairi to grab, when they did there was a flash of light and the three of them were gone.

"We'd best be on our way" said Aqua as Ventus and Terra summoned their Keyblade armour, she did too and the three of them flew out into the void between worlds. Finally Xion, Namine', Lea and Vanitas left to find the train for Twilight Town waiting for them outside, they said their goodbyes to Yen Sid and departed.

"And so it begins, the clock has begun ticking for the universe, I can see many starts flickering and disappearing. The end of days is coming"

, 


End file.
